The Rift: Rediscovery
by Salem-Tony
Summary: Earth is damaged; pollution and overpopulation have taken its toll. Remnant is damaged; totalitarianism expands, and the Grimm spread like a plague. Both worlds are on the verge of disaster: those who have stepped in to help have either died or disappeared. Lurking beneath the endless tundra of Siberia, an ancient complex may hold the key to rescue both planets...but whom?
1. Chapter 1, Section I

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, it is owned by Rooster Teeth.**

**A/N: After a massive writers block and deletion of the original story, I've decided to give another shot to writing this story. I have a roadmap in my head and am ready to try again.**

* * *

**Chapter I, Volume I**

* * *

Frost...frozen...where am I?

My body heaves with exhaustion as I wake up, embraced with a chilling sensation that causes me to draw breath. Light floods my face as I attempt cover them, only to feel my arms fall flat, instead I hear a voice. Bold and arrogant.

"'Bout time he wakes up." Shuffling and movement can be heard as his words utter closer to my ear, "My ass has been freezing in this god forsaken place". Hands grab my shoulders as am brought to my feet. Metal clangs to aluminum floor, the scientists run diagnostics on me to insure that am still alive, my artificial limbs warming up since...

_"How long have I been asleep?" _my mind blurs as I remember voices, so many voices in my head. Each of them remind me of memory so long ago, but I don't remember how long ago. Fuzzy images and inconsistent voices invade my mind while I am placed on what I assume is a gurney. I look up at the man whose voice sounds rougher than sandpaper rubbing against concrete. His wrinkles and white hair made apparent by the bright, sterile lights. A decorated uniform, barring eight medals, curved around his build, giving off an intimidating appearance. If it weren't for the fear suppressors coursing through my artificial veins I would've been too afraid to speak.

However, I wasn't trained to be afraid or know fear. I've been made to make _other's_ fear me, giving me reason to ask a very simple and rhetorical question ever since I was first awaken.

"Where am I going?", he looks at me with a 'It actually speaks?' look as he gruffly replies "Somewhere not on Earth." and with that he doesn't spare me a another second before injecting nanobots inside me. I blissfully fall asleep as my body adapts and augments itself with newer technology.

The man gestures to the scientists and they cart me away from the cyro-pod.

* * *

At least the food is good, as I grab the metal tin of coffee and drink the black, bitter, hot drink as it warms me in the Siberian tundra am currently travelling through, jagged rocks and mountains being rivaled by the mega-city that is slowly fading away as my view is obstructed by the blizzard raging on outside. Pipping my curiosity I activate my new information module, a blue holographic screen scans my face and automatically logs me in internet.

I quickly skip to major headlines and check to see what am missing.

_Global leaders are alarmed with the ever-increasing energy and population growth on Earth, Luna, Mars, New Earth and the recently colonized planet Lenara. Experts suggest that the 'New Sun' Project will only produce enough energy to power Earths for only two weeks via solar, geothermal, wind and a newly designed fusion power plant. However, critics are still pinning the failure on the Auro Corporation for causing the destruction of Sol Flare and New Horizon City leading to the deaths of 2.3 billion inhabitants and damaging the struggling Geoscape Project on Mars..._

_...While the UN government adjust the budget given to the Basic Assistance Program, the population of Earth has skyrocketed from 1.4 trillion to 5.9 trillion in the last decade due to the Freedom 149 Bill passed by the United Democratic Party, Federalists of the People and Russian Socialist Front for decreasing the accessibility of birth control in response to the Eagles passing the Lifecare Plan for increased spending towards Work Assistance for the Unemployed..._

_...500 people have been killed and thousands more injured by the Mars Resistance Group during the New Years Eve Celebration whose goal for an independent Mars and the annexation of all non-Sol exoplanets under the idea 'New Human Unity' has cause unwarranted suffering. The UN 4th Orbital Fleet has been deployed along with two divisions of marines, six divisions of the army and included is a handful of atmospheric entry spacecraft..._

Apparently I've missed along, back when I was alive there had only been nine billion people on Earth and the Moon combined with Mars just beginning to be colonized. Now there has been a estimated amount of 20 trillion people in the entirety of the UN and ExPA. _"That would explain all of the cities." _I think in my head. Turning my head away from the hologram I begin to eat the bowl of oatmeal, apples, dried bread and a nutrition bar that looks similar to a oversize granola bar.

Finishing my tray my pilot turns and yells to me "ETA one minute to landing site!", the radio goes crazy with static as the copilot tries to communicate with Command, only meeting more static. Getting up from seat I head towards the cockpit screen, revealing a large ancient portal surrounded by pylons that seem to beam energy, each carved with strange writing and symbols. The main pylon, located in front of the portal, appears as the receiver of this energy and sends all of it into the portal. What really caught my attention was the symbol carved in; A shattered moon and a pair of dragons eclipsing its surface.

The hovercraft landed gently on the tarmac and both side doors and back slid open. I retreated from the cockpit and got off the aircraft. Frigid wind and snow kissed my body as my body activated its thermal control module in order to keep my joints from freezing.

While I stared blankly at the portal, the man and a squad appeared out of the howling wind, along with three crates. They stopped in front of me as the man spoke "My name is General Kaith of the 5th Orbital Fleet and Armed Forces. Your mission is simple", he stops to light a cigarette he procured from his breast pocket while talking. He nods towards the portal taking out his cigarette with sigh and continues, "This fancy looking portal was discovered a fortnight ago and was restored on orders of the UN Security Council to see where it leads to. Of course the drones we sent immediately lost signal suggesting that this exists somewhere far away from deep-space communication stations. Then we sent a Ranger unit, only to recover a traumatized survivor who said 'there was a pack of bears attacking', of course no one believed him and he was honorably discharged and sent to a retirement facility, but that's beside the point."

All of the crates open and show their contents, I activate my scanners to gather further details of the stuff: a AK-193 attached with 3D replicating ammo printer, a foregrip and sensor HUD. On both sides of the gun are two pistols that are given a sensor HUD and eight clips of .450 nano-explosive propellant, along with two combat knives.

The second crate housed a micro-vibration titanium broadsword with magnetic locking along with a similar looking machete with a hook located at the top. Included are different explosives and gadgets that could be useful with emergency batteries in cause I suffer a EMP. Finally the last crate showed a highly advance carbon fiber suit without the helmet and a experimental shield generator.

"So we're going to send you and a team of geologists and Rangers, you will protect them at all costs. Is that understood?". Of course I have to say yes due to the fact that am only a weapon in their eyes. I began to get ready.

* * *

**Information**

**Earth- 2396**

**Population of the U.N and ExPA- 20 Trillion **

**Government: United Nations and Exo Planets Administration (ExPA)**

**Military Forces: United Nations Orbital Navy**

** United Nations Army**

** United Nation Marines**

** United Nation Rangers**


	2. Section II

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, it is owned by Rooster Teeth**

* * *

Pulsing, pulsing and pulsing. Both my heart and the device pulsed, one with the purpose of moving red fluid through my body at four miles per hour.

The other...I don't know. Of course no one knows, in fact, a group of scientists study the letters engraved on the pillars with, what seems like, scanners, but much larger and fixed to a computer instead a tent nearby.

With one final pull and grunt the suit fixes to my augmented body, acting as a second skin. I slowly left one of my arms without problem, it reacts as if it was my real skin. Skin that was replaced with prototype prosthetic's built centuries ago. Limps that once were bulky and primitive are now replaced by nanobots and an adaptive metal alloy with ceramic plating.

I slowly think to memories of old.

A family, a mother, father, two sisters and three brothers. Of course I remember the pointless arguments with my siblings over who ate the last pizza or who broke the window via rouge baseball. And what should have been dead long, long ago, I still remember as if it was yesterday. Am so engrossed with my thoughts that it wasn't until a sergeant was shouting in my ear to get my attention. The privates nearby quickly spring to attention from their warm fire, whereas I simply look up at him.

Still shouting and in full gear he shouts, "Alright men, our objective is clear. So listen up and shut up.", pauses for two guys to stop their conversation before continuing, "In ten minutes we will make history. The top brass has given the green light for Operation Grounded Voyager. Our guys and squad Cheetah will go through the portal and set up a base of operations. Our goal is to make contact with any forms of life or intelligent fauna of some kind, secondly we are providing support, recon and security for the main exploration team following us. Soldiers, I swear to you, that we are standing on the edge of making history. We'll be remembered as the first of exploring a brand new world in possibly another solar system, galaxy, or, hell, another universe. Now hop to!"

"Sir!", the team grabbed their rifles and helmets, the latter of which being placed on shortly. I too took my rifle, slung it over my shoulder, and head towards the squad as a drone is sent out in a last ditch effort to see even a glimpse on the other side of the portal. By the technician's sigh and irritated look, it seems that it was to no avail. However, the sergeant seemed to grow a light bulb in his head. He turns to one of his subordinates and says, "Pull the cable".

He looks confused and asks again, with the sergeant repeating his order. His subordinate then turns to me and tells me to do it.

I walk up to the heavy cable in front of us and yank it back, oddly it gave resistance and there seems to be something attached. I re-adjust my stance and yanked it, nearly being knocked over by a human-sized drone as it flies by my head.

With some quick dives and nervous chuckles, I get back up as the sergeant replies with the biggest grin I've ever seen.

"We're going in."

* * *

Where I once saw an endless tundra near a sea, it was now replaced with a sprawling forest covered in a layer of snow.

We stumbled out of the portal, the sight compared to the urban sprawls I seen so far could compare nothing to this place. As far as I can tell, there are no cities except for a cottage about four kilcks northwest of our position. The sarge decided to keep our footprints light and to leave nothing behind, the others however were still in shock of a place that didn't had a single city district. From what I read, about 75% of Earth's remaining landmass is covered in city, hydroponic bases or industry. Many of them probably haven't seen a forest of this scale.

Something was off though, in my head I thought, "_If there is a cottage nearby, where are all the others? It would simply make sense that we are near civilization or a camping trail."_ This little discussion in my head continued until I got my answer.

One of the scientist's placed a recon pod ten feet away from me to collect samples of the snow, soil and that other science shit, when I saw eyes. But they weren't human; red...too red, almost the color of crimson, stared at the unaware scientist as it slowly reared up for a lunge. My hands quickly jerked my rifle at the beast, but by then it was too late. It jump, jaws open, and swallowed the bottom half of the man. I fired shots at its bony-looking head. It kept that poor bastard until it was quickly being fired from multiple angles.

With a scream the monster ate half of his body- blood and entrails splattered on the alabaster snow, panicked voices and rifle fire hammered into the the pitch-black hide as it charge into the squad. On instinct, I activated my micro-thrusters and maneuvered to its back, quickly taking out my machete and hooking on the shoulder blade.

The beast roared in pain as one of its blood-soaked claws reached for me. Realizing this, I reached into my holster and whipped out my pistol, unloading a round into the thing's head. Instantly the round killed it, as its lifeless body turned into dust dropping me on the ground.

"More incoming!" one of men yelled. In that moment everything turned to shit; only two of the seven scientists managed to make it back to the portal and me and the sarge remained. Everyone else were either being torn apart to pieces or swallowed whole, I managed to retrieve a camera drone that was damaged by a spike shot into it. Turning I yelled to the sarge -whose right arm was barely hanging on and shooting with a pistol as he took out another beast- to run.

"No! My objective is to secure you as well!"

"Fuck your orders! Get out of here now!" with that I shoved him into the portal, along with the camera drone, before I was swept to the side by a beast who rammed his head to my side. The force knocked the wind out of my lungs and I hurled into a tree or two.

Before I could gather my strength and make a marathon to the portal, there was a flicker, then it started to become smaller. With a burst of energy I ditched my machete and gun, making a mad dash to the shrinking portal. I reached out with my hand in a vain attempt to stop. With only a foot in front of I dove to the tire-sized ripple... it closed.

I tumbled into a stream, the cold surrounding me as it froze the wiring and thus making me paralyzed for a moment. Groaning I tried to get up, only to feel pain in my chest, glancing down was a strong trunk that kept me down in that stream. My struggles caused the herd to look at me with blood-stained fangs and entrails dangling from their claws. Grabbing my pistol, I started seeing white dots dancing in my vision. "No not now" I muttered to myself as I aimed the pistol at the alpha whose mouth showed a satisfied grin.

Smiling myself I said "At least he won't like steel crusted limb", I pass out and close my eyes for what seems to be the last time.

Just before I saw a rose petal.

* * *

Warm...so warm...

I opened my groggy eyes as I saw a fire in a stone hearth. The heat it made caused my servos to unfreeze and for Denitro to flow through my skeleton. With a yawn I studied my surroundings; a lounge with a couch with two chairs situated near the fireplace and a coffee table in front of the couch along with a poster of the 'Archive Men'.

In the corner of my eye I saw a figure behind. I tried to grab my pistol only to find that all my equipment and suit were taken off of me replaced by a bandage wrapped around my chest. Adrenaline pumped into my brain as I quickly grabbed a fire iron and held in a way that could deflect a sword...if I my body was active. However, I decided to keep this charade up and to keep some distance between me and...her.

In both her hands she was holding a tray, holding a roll of bandage, a few pills, a mug of something and a plate of cookies. She stood still and said-

"Its okay, just please put the iron down. I'm not going to hurt you.", her voice was that of a young adult and as I scanned her for any hidden weapons, of which she didn't, I stared straight into her eyes. I still didn't trust her and asked, "Who are you? Where am I? What is this place?".

She stepped forward and I pointed the rod at her, positioned at her neck if I need to eliminate her. The brunette then replied with a calm voice.

"My name is Summer Rose."


	3. Section III

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, it is owned by Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

"My name is Summer Rose".

She stared at me straight in the eye as I held the fire iron at her throat, my instincts tell me to thrust the sharp end into her neck and be done with it. I can hear my blood roar through my ears and my heart beating faster as my adrenaline reaches it peak. But, against my instincts, I lower the fire iron down, placing it back in the fireplace stand, giving the woman a calming gesture.

The brunette told me to sit back down on the chair.

Hesitantly, I complied, relishing the warmth the fur-covered chair provided to my cybernetic body and the woman- who looked polite and kind in comparison to the technicians that maintain my body- sat down next to me on the wooden chair that I failed to notice earlier. My sensor scanned the items for trances of poison or hostile nanobots, of which the results came back negative. Summer grabbed the bandage roll, moving her hands towards my wound, I saw this and backed away.

She froze, "It's okay. Your wound needs to be bandaged again, you've been out for quite some time.", her smile and soft voice basked away any doubt I had about her kindness, believing she was tricking me and trying to sell me out to some nefarious plot...it's happened before. I relaxed and allowed her to change the metallic red cloth roll, her hands stained as the metal stuck to her fingers and I pity her as I knew that the artificial blood was extremely difficult to wash off, sometimes causing small cuts or iron overloads.

After she finished I asked, ""What happened? Where am I?", keeping to my usual blunt attitude that often annoyed the hell out of politicians or officers that I accompanied in the past, often muttering under their breath of how disrespectful I am, even though that attitude did pull them out of sticky situations.

"You're in my house, I was out with my husband making some errands in Patch. We heard gunfire and ran over to where you were at. You were unconscious and losing a lot of...blood, I think? I've never seen a person with a semblance like that.".

_'Semblance',_ I thought confused and asked her, "Uh...what is a semblance? Also where is Patch, I don't think there is a city in Russia named that?", she looked at me with a confused look, "Russia? There is no kingdom called Russia. Also what do you mean by 'what is a semblance?', everyone has a semblance, isn't it why your body is made of metal?", I sit up and start explaining, "My body is cybernetic, it was made by the U.S centuries ago."

"U.S?"

"The U.S is a superpower in the past. But I like to ask, and this may freak you out: am I on Earth?"

Her face look as if she seen a ghost and replied, "No...your on Remnant. If you're talk-", she was cut off by the door opening and a man grumbling along with a "Mom!" in a childish voice that was utterly adorable. Before I could react, the woman in front of me was tackled by what seemed like a red blur. I sprung up and readied myself for combat until I realized that the brunette was...laughing.

"Ha ha...Ruby stop!" she was trying to get, from what I could tell, her daughter off her as she climbed like a monkey on sugar. She then took notice of me with her big silver eyes, a feature that I noticed in both her and her mother. She looked like a miniature version of her mother with exception of a thin strand of gray hair. With her right hand pointing at me, curiosity filling her eyes she asked her mother, "Who's that mommy?".

Before Summer could answer I heard a crash on the floor to my right, the gray-haired man, who smelled of alcohol, looked at me with steady eyes that scanned me from head to toe. My sensor's indicated that he too had no weapons and was, in fact, downstairs in the basement tucked away. Summer noticed this stance between me and her husband, "Qrow he's not a threat, he won't hurt us."

"Oh yeah? Then why was he surrounded by grim and- and what's up with that git?", the man placed with arms in a 90 degree angle with his right foot placed slightly behind his left, I saw this and ran a battle simulation of my likely hood of winning and- unsurprisingly- I'll still win. Summer replied, "Maybe he was hunting them down, there were equipment there. Perhaps he was protecting his friends or coworkers."

Silence...

It took a while before Qrow relaxed slightly, glancing at Summer who smiled with reassurance, before turning his attention at me, "I don't trust you." he started, "But it seems that Summer does. I don't really care what happens to you, but I'll let you stay here. First of all-" he lowered his arms but remaining his stance, "What's your name?".

I hesitated as saying my name would put me a step closer on their watch list and I only wanted to get back to Earth.

_'The Portal!'_

My head suddenly remembered the device that brought me and the scientist's to this world, only for the 'Grim' to attack and slaughter most of us. It was gone, the idea that I could never return to Earth caused me worry. Even if I didn't like my treatment there, at least there was structure in my cursed life and a chance to discover what the future would bring. However, I began to think that the portal collapsed and the technology to replicate it wouldn't be there until for millions of years.

_'Maybe...maybe I could start anew; a new life.',_ I thought.

"Hey am still waiting for an answer; its either you answer or-", "Alex!", I said in a much louder voice than expected as the words flew out of my mouth before I could stop. Sighing as my cover was already blown I continued, "My name is Alexander Bruce, Cyber Operative of the United Nations Armed Forces.". Cautiously I slowly sat back down on the chair as both Qrow and Summer looked both confused. Summer turned to Ruby, "Honey go to your room. This...this is something for the adults to talk about.", the younger girl looked ready to respond to stay until her father pitched in, "Ruby. Go to your room, please'.

"Okay", the girl got up and ran hella fast upstairs, leaving a trail of rose petals.

"Damn she's fast."

"Alright kid, your not fooling me, let me set you straight: there is no 'United Nations'" with air quotes "here on Remnant. You're either crazy or trying to pull some jig. So you either spill the beans and say where you'll really from or get the hell out of here."

Desperate I told him everything as I told him about Earth, where it's at, the portal-.

"What portal?"

"That's how I got here. The U.N discovered a site that housed the portal and activated it. I was awaken from my cyro-chamber to escort a team of scientists, geologists, archaeologists and soldiers sent to gather information about this planet, your 'Grim' attacked after a argument ensued from a trio of privates. Not to mention that everyone was amazed of the landscape of this world.", Qrow and Summer looked baffled and asked further questions.

"So the Grim attacked?"

"Yes."

"Your group should have known that the Grim are attracted to negative emotions, the guys you'll talking about must have drawn them towards you."

"We didn't even know that the Grim existed, most of us only saw a uninhabited world that was discovered by accident. Look I have something that can convince you."

Activating my wrist mounted computer I pulled out a hologram giving details of my world. Qrow appeared to actually start believing that I wasn't some drug fueled lunatic, but when I pulled up the some of the weapons of the U.N- only ones that were small or normal looking such as the Type-301 Assault Rifle, Marral .45 Pistol and the intimidating J12-2209 "Basher" Heavy-Goliath Minigun- Summer immediately flooded me with more questions about the guns and the battle platforms of which I only showed the small Erinqe-3 Battle Mech. She drooled at the mention of all the guns, armor and other small details of the insignificant mech that was actually obsolete fifty years ago.

_Knock...knock...knock...knock..._

We all jumped at the sound as Qrow went to investigate with Summer telling me to stay put. Before Qrow could look through the peek-hole, the door swung open as a man was holding another man with...antlers?

The look on their faces were that of pure desperation and fear as I saw that the antler man was wounded, a deep gash in his side along with a twisted leg. His arm was tattoo with 54931-00394. The man without antlers saw Summer and pleaded-

"Ms. Rose. Thank goodness you're here."

Her face was filled with concern and worry as she stepped in front of Qrow, examining the antler man's wound. Qrow asked "What happened?"

"A-a Atlesian soldiers attacked the railroad, w-we bar-barely escaped."

A bullet shot through a antler, shattering it into small pieces.

* * *

**A/N: I like to clear you guys up on two points:**

**1st: "Monkey on sugar" isn't a racial slur, I just couldn't think of how to describe five year old Ruby.**

**2nd: Summer's last name is Branwen, but these people knew her as Summer Rose and weren't informed that she was married to Qrow. Her official full name for this story is Summer Rose Branwen.**

**With that out of the way: thanks for reading!**


	4. Section IV

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, it is owned by Rooster Teeth**

* * *

The antler shattered as the bullet torn into the exposed bone as blood spurted on Summer, prompting the antler man to shriek in pain as his companion forced in the house as several other tracer rounds narrowly missed both of them. Qrow grabbed Summer, yank her out of the way and slam the door shut behind the tailed duo.

"You guys were being followed?!" he yell as a bullet whizzed past his head, forcing him to move the nearby cabinet in front of the door as loud banging follow. Instinctively I dove behind the couch, confused of who these hostile's were and why they are attacking two civilians without reason. I went to grab my pistol from its holster, only to find a empty pocket in a pair of unfamiliar pants, _'Undoubtedly Qrow's.' _I thought. The door cracked as the assailant continuously, without restraint, destroyed the door with the cabinet became the last line of defense.

A childish scream came from upstairs and I recognized that it was Ruby's. But I without my weapons there was little I could if Ruby was being attacked. Leaping in a crouched run, I ran to a crouched Summer by a turned over table riddled with bullet holes, nudging I questioned "Where did you put my equipment?".

"What!" she asked as one of the attackers entered through a shattered window, us failing to notice over the sounds of bullets and screams from the antler man.

"Where. Did. You. Put. My-!"

Something else ended my sentence.

The intruder fired a bullet that reflected off of my armor as Summer suddenly discovered its presence. However, this wasn't a human that fired said shot, instead a kind of android with a weird looking rifle. The android didn't hesitant to fire again after it register that the previous shot had no effect on me, however before I could avoid the second incoming bullet, there was a flash of red, rose petals flying past my face. The brunette pushed the android against the wall in an attempt to deactivate its hard drive, making it drop the rifle and bounced near me.

Moving from cover I grab the gun, trying to get a steady grip on the awkward design of it. The rifle seems to value stylish, over-complicated features instead of practical mechanics or even a normal pistol grip. It was a trigger that immediately become attached to a small valve connected to the bulky stock. Even with this complication I manage to line the iron sight at the android, as it started to gain the upper-hand, braking Summer's grip. Qrow was struggling to keep the door from breaking down, the antler man was being tended to by the other man.

Switching the rifle from semi-auto to burst fire I aimed at the droid.

A trail of tracer rounds spilled from the barrel toward the attacker, the force of the bullets penetrated the head. The droid deactivated instantly.

Before I could ask if she was okay, another scream was heard from upstairs. Both me and Summer must have had the same thought as we both heard her.

"Go save your kid, I'll help Qrow.", telling her before running toward the front door as Qrow was now fighting two droids in CQC, of course he was failing miserably, his moves did more harm as he left himself vulnerable. I ran toward him, believing that this is a way to repay the kind couple who saved me from the bitter cold or from a pack of hungry Grimm.

* * *

**Ruby POV**

* * *

Lightning use to always scare me, now there are sounds that are constantly starting to sound like lightning. When I first saw the two adults running toward the house I just thought they were some of my parent's friends. But then there were a lot of AK-120's- I only knew them because of the action figures I have of them- running and shooting their guns at the men running at our house. I scream as one of them noticed me and fired at my room window, ducking underneath my desk.

Minutes felt like hours as I hid under the bed to avoid the dust cartridges passing through the wall and, the now shattered, window. Tears fell from my eyes from the sheer terror of the situation, I cried out for Mom and Dad only to be drowned out from the consistent rattling of the guns and our front door being smashed down as one of the AK-120's ran full speed to the front.

Shout's can be heard downstairs with another window shattered from what I could hear, but I refuse to move from under the bed, for fear of being shot, however, I decided to do so anyway.

_"A huntress will always put the lives of others before themselves.",_ Mom would always say after training, Dad will follow with, _"Ya know, you have silver eyes"_, vaguely without further explaining why my eyes are so special and make me think it's a form of kindness. I thought of these memories and remember that Mom put her weapon just across the hall, with it I could save my parents and their friends...including that mysterious stranger...become the hero.

But I couldn't dwell on my thoughts as another hail of bullets came, going through the wall and my room. Using semblance I made a mad run to my parents room, every step I took a bullet came close to hitting me and me dodging them by the skin of my teeth. Rose petals flutter behind me as they gently touch the floor. Now in my parent's room I went to grab mom's weapon; Crystal Petal, a long-sword fitted with a extendable staff inside of it to turn into a spear along with a dust chamber to augment the power of the blade. Crystal Petal may be twice my size in spear form, but in sword form I can carry it- kinda.

Before I could grab Crystal Petal I saw from the corner of my eye one of AK-120's entering my room. Fear found its way into my head as I screamed, before covering my mouth in order to hush my anguish, however, the robot heard my scream and began scanning the room I'm in. Rushing I hid in my parents closet, slamming the door shut, shifting between mom's dresses. Just as the closet door closed, the robot arrived in the room and began scanning again. I held my breath. Glancing around the closet I spied dad's Harbinger located to the right side of the door. Harbinger was far too heavy for me to wield effectively, wielding the weapon as a scythe or sword is out of the question- might actually almost kill me like last time- but the shotgun, while knocking me out, could destroy the intruder.

However I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't realize the robot is bashing against the fragile door.

"Ruby!"

* * *

**Alexander POV**

_**Five Minutes **__**Earlier**_

* * *

"Go save your kid, I'll help Qrow.", telling her before running toward the front door as Qrow was now fighting two droids in CQC, of course he was failing miserably, his moves did more harm as he left himself vulnerable. I ran toward him, throwing the rifle at the droid's head trapping Qrow in a choke-hold, the impact from the rifle jerked the robot, it gave me time to leap forward. Pulling out my knife I dug the blade into its forehead and deactivated the robot. The black-hair man- recovering his breath- manage to throw another robot to the ground, slamming his feet into the neck severing the connection between the head and body and caused a malfunction. _'Two down, five to go' _my scanner saw the locations of these bots as it showed a battle simulation that'' guarantee a win.

The robots saw its deceased comrades and began firing at me and Qrow, however, all the bullets went astray and nowhere near hitting me as the system predicted. Smirking I rush forward...only to trip on a chair leg. I fell face first on the table in front of me that I plan to use as a makeshift shield in order to crush all the droids, including the fact my HUD began to static.

"Shit!" I yelled as I struggle to get up from my unknown clumsiness only to be met by another barrage of bullets, luckily the shield-system reactivated and reflected the bullets. The impact from the shots was almost nonexistent as they disintegrate from the energy shield. Ducking behind the turned over table that nailed my face I then collect the chair leg with my remaining hand and ran towards the droids.

I clubbed the the front droid, simultaneously stabbing the one on my left and slash the knife out and into the one I just clubbed. Swiftly taking both of them out I threw the knife at one that reloaded and took aim at me, the blade was thrown in its right eye taking it out instantly.

Qrow looked at me dumbfounded at the wounded person that he and Summer took in, probably believing that I was helpless and not use to combat like this, unknowingly that I once took on an entire Chinese battalion of mechanized infantry supported with aircraft. That story ended with me flying away in a captured helicopter leaving the oncoming attack in a blood-soaked river and smoking vehicles with a quickly spray-painted "SUCK MY DICK" with said spray-painted dick on a Type 99-A32 with one of the crew jaw removed and pointed at the head.

Another swing destroyed the remaining droid as I smashed the chair leg so hard that it was stuck in the visor of the destroyed droid. My lungs wheezed for more air with exhaustion coursing through my body as I deactivated my adrenaline and-

"Ruby!" Someone yelled upstairs, but due to my exhausted state I passed out on the floor, sharing it with the wreckage.

* * *

"I managed to throw the AK-120 out of the window, my speed should have destroyed its head. Other than that I think all of the robots are destroyed." Summer said as she placed a sleeping Ruby on the clean part of the couch. I woke up a few minutes ago with Qrow shaking me awake, my first view was his face and then Summer tending to Antler man on the chair. His antler had been completely shattered with a white paste covering the wound, prevent any blood from spurting out.

When I recovered enough I press the four compatriots with multiple questions about what the hell just happened.

"Who the fuck were those guys? Why were they shooting at you and that guy over there?" I said pointing at Antler man, "Also where the fuck are my weapons?"

Qrow glanced with Summer who turned to me and back to her husband, giving him a slight nod before going to the kitchen. He grab a broken chair and placed it front of me as he went to sit down. I adjusted my composure in order to look more professional and to ease my chest wound. "I told you where am from, I think it's time for you to explain what is going on here."

The brunette returned with a tray of cookies, three mugs and a flask filled with- what I'm assuming- liquor- more specifically whiskey. Raising an eyebrow I look at her with a face that reads, _Really? Cookies?._

"What? I like cookies."

"Yeah...you might wanna redefine your definition of 'like'."

"Okay okay", Qrow answered before this became an all out cookie war, "What just attacked us were droids-"

"Obviously."

"Hey you wanted answers, am giving you them. The droids are from Atlas patrolling the coast of Patch, they must have caught wind of the underground railroad."

"Railroad? There's resistance here?"

"Yes-", swing from his flask, "and no, they're trying to sabotage Atlesian conveys to Delaric, now under Atlas control and turned into a massive concentration camp."

"Also the underground railroad is trying to convince the council and Ozpin to send an formal declaration of war on Atlas. But people are afraid leading to more attacks from the creatures of Grimm, prompting the council to instead defend the borders from the growing hordes of Grimm." Summer added before eating her third cookie.

_'Grimm..Atlas...Ozpin...', _all of these lead to more questions as I paid attention to the information provide by the couple, the man and the faunus for a good hour or two. At the end of this rushed history lesson of _Remnant, _I decided to ask a clarification statement.

"So let me get this straight; This planet-called Remnant- is home to two races; Humans and Faunus, the latter of which looks exactly like humans with more animalistic traits, both physically and mentally. There use to be four kingdoms and now only Vale and Atlas remain in a cold war. Atlas was replaced by a militaristic, jingoistic, totalitarian regime under a man named James Ironwood, former general and councilman of the Atlesian council, now rules as Supreme Leader of the Atlas Empire. They started building camps to enslave undesirables, mainly Faunus, political rivals, 'reeducate' prisoners, homosexuals, trans, and people that don't live up to their standards. Not to mention the fact that Atlas conquered Vacuo, forcing Vale to stay on the sidelines and merged Mistral as a protectorate.

Not only that but there are creatures that are called the Grimm that seek to destroy everything that humanity ever created and are attracted to negative emotions, of which started the Great War that occurred 69 years ago. In order to combat these creatures there a academies that train huntsmen and huntresses to fight these Grimm, however, they don't a have a specific allegiance to any of these kingdoms and can stay in teams or go in solo. And you two came from Beacon Academy and later joined 'The Resistance', but instead of just moving people to Menagerie or Vale, both of you engage in guerrilla warfare against Atlas patrols and liberate Faunus slaves. Am I wrong in any of this?"

"Yes... you forgot the part where the moon is shattered" Qrow said after a few moments of silence.

"Alright, am going to keep this to the point and I need you two to listen."

Both Summer and Qrow kept their gazes at me, albeit Summer leaned a little bit forward from her spot on the couch. Placing my mug on the coffee table that managed to survive the attack from earlier I continued, "How can I help the Resistance?"

* * *

**A/N: Yeah that part where Alex joins the Resistance was kinda rushed, but I wanted to not go over the sappy stuff of honor and repaying debts, instead I'm pretty sure that most people IRL would join a movement such as this once they heard it.**

**Other than that this is what I wanted to address. **

**Thanks for Reading.**


	5. Section V

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, its owned by Rooster Teeth.**

The basement light flickered with signs that the light bulb needs to be changed, though the fact of the matter is the small hole next to the entrance, hiding the rats that reside in the family's cottage. In front of me is a hologram showing a 2D image of Remnant with Vale and Menagerie colored blue, Atlas and Vacuo marked red, and Mistral highlighted with red-orange stripes.

It was only Qrow and me as he shows me key-points of Atlesian weakness, mainly the fact that most of the Altesian forces are fighting an increasingly tricky guerrilla war with a terrorist- or freedom fighter- group called the 'White Fang'. The White Fang has extended a white flag of truce to the Vale government to refocus their efforts on Atlas. The Resistance, which Qrow explains is only connected by remote radio stations or informants, has also allied with the White Fang due to shared interests...for the moment at least.

"But as I said, the Atlesian bastards have been putting _more_ pressure by using cloaking camouflage and changing their convey routes, it's now impossible to locate where they _might _be much less when." he states.

The hologram shows past convey routes, my scanner notices a pattern, but I decided against it as the satellites orbiting around Remnant could prove useful instead..."Does this 'Resistance' have any hacker or double agents inside of Atlas? We could instruct to hack radar signals to and from satellites commu-".

"There are no 'satellites'." Qrow interrupts, stating it as a matter-of-fact.

"Then how do the kingdoms communicate outside of their borders?", Qrow then motions his 'scroll' (dumb name to call a phone) and pulls up a model of a large tower with an array of antennas and radar dishes, he continues, "CCT Towers."

"What does that stand for?"

"Cross Continental Transmit Towers...I can now absolutely say that you're not from Remnant.", he says, crossing his arms. Rolling my eyes at the jest I pointed out a key advantage, "Well then why not take out their towers, they may be heavily defended, but all you need is a suitcase bomb, sneak inside drop it off and be on your way."

"We already tried that, besides taking out one tower disrupts the entire network-"

"Damn, your people suck at communications."

"Would you like your guys to back you up?"

"Fuck you, we didn't know anything about the Grimm, although I can guarantee the UN can take out these Grimm faster than your kind!", raising my force and striding to Qrow to look him in the eyes. Even without any weapons or if I can call Qrow a...' ally', of all things, I am not going to let that insult against the slaughtered soldiers who had no idea of the Grimm and died in my place.

"If I find your so-called 'portal,' I'll be the first one to throw your ass out-."

"Stop!", a feminine voice lashed out, putting an immediate end to my argument with Qrow, who stopped his anger for the time being and me slightly lowering my guard.

**Summer POV**

Taking note that Alexander's and Qrow's fight settled down, I continue Qrow's point, "The towers are too well defended: dozens of AK-120's, Galtoriuses and Knight-Suits guard the areas surrounding the buildings. Not to mention the fact that _if _we do survive without getting slaughtered, we'll be overwhelmed by a dust swarm." His face held the look that he was ready to ask a question, "And before you ask, dust swarms are tiny robots that ignite both fire and lightning dust, Atlas recently installed them after a series of attacks by the White Fang."

"Took the words out of my mouth.", the 'Earthling' replied.

Qrow looks back at me and gives the nod, a clear signal to reveal our new operation. With his trust, I walk down the basement stairs passing Alexander and the scroll still projecting a CCT model. I pause.

_"Can we trust him, though? He might be a spy deliberately sent by Atlas; he might have even been told to defend us from the AK-120's to gain our trust!" _I thought as Alexander's stare was watching my every movement. It _was _possible as Atlas did send Special Operatives to infiltrate resistance cells, especially since Intel has revealed that recent Operatives have started using cybernetics.

Hell, Earth might have been a shitty cover made up on the spot, a portal like that wouldn't have existed..._' neither would those weapons.'_ I concluded as there wouldn't be a need to come up with fake weapons.

_"Regardless whether we can trust him or not it's not like we have a choice.", _I can feel his eyes staring at me still, waiting for me to continue. Taking a few steps forward, I open the closet door and remove a rather conspicuous painting of an ancient war hero long ago. With hesitation, I remove the painting, exposing a hole in the wall holding the key to giving the Resistance key access to Atlesian operations...

A simple flash drive.

Taking it out of its hiding place, I held it up, showing it to Alexander, his eyebrow rose with curiosity, "So...is it a sex tape of you and Qrow?" he asks innocently with an arrogant smirk.

My face heats as I start sputtering out words, looking to Qrow for help. I only find him laughing despite being insulted by cyborg, and I can tell he's drunk. I was caught up in my blushing and shock that I failed to notice the flash drive out of my hand with Alexander plugging it in his arm. His eyes turn cyan as a holographic monitor appears in front of him. He seems impressed as by his chuckle. He looks back at me.

"Who made this code?" asking genuinely.

Qrow stood up as he takes out his flask, "That is-" he pauses as he takes a swing, "none of your business. All you need to know is that this flash drive can-".

"Eliminate Atlesian networks by overheating their servers and send a copy of whatever information it recovers to Resistance hackers, all the while establishing a fake network in case they do rebuild their electronic equipment...is that what you were going to say or generalize?" he asks before taking the flash drive out. "How..how did you do that!?" I exclaimed, perplexed by his almost instantaneous analysis. It should have taken at least a good half hour to decrypt.

Simply shrugging the "Earthling" calmly replies, "That's for me to know and you not to find out. I must say, though, that the encrypting of the virus is lacking."

"Now you see there's our problem", Qrow cuts in, "the virus took a hella long time to create and multiple tries to get it right. Even then, the Resistance can't enlarge the virus. Gathering that much dust and dust chips would gather too much attention from Atlesian agents. The SDC owns most of the dust shops and warehouses, we'd get caught for sure."

"SDC?"

"Schnee Dust Company" I fill in as Qrow takes the opportunity to drink more whiskey. As the flask was near his lip, I quickly snatch the foul thing as Qrow took notice and starts complaining. As he does, I explain further, "They're a megacorporation that holds a vast monopoly on imports, exports, manufacturing, and mining of Dust- either artificial or natural."

I activate my scroll and pull up numerous profiles, databanks, and pictures of SDC activity. Alexander took notice of the holograms, "Manufactories, arsenals, testing facilities, a new battle platform prototype? Are you sure this isn't just a megacorporation? By the looks of it, they look like a small nation."

"Atlas relies on SDC for most of their weaponry now of days, although the shipyards are nationalized. Jacque Schnee is a close ally to General Ironwood, from what we can tell the SDC has been realigning their budget towards infiltration droids and new cloak suits after discovering a kind of dust that moves the light around it."

He soaked in the information, "You guys are fighting an uphill battle, I mean y'all are fighting against a fucking super army with technology I haven't heard of!" exaggeratedly raising his hands. I am perplexed however, curiously I ask, "Doesn't 'Earth' have technology like this?"

"No. So far the UN has no idea what dust is except for the shit you find on the ground.", "_I still don't believe it though. How does Alexander never even heard of dust for oum sake?!", _doubt clouded my mind. I don't know if I could trust him. Usually, I trust anyone as long as they aren't from Atlas or been associated with Atlas unless proving their loyalty. A glance of his cybernetic body confirms this; only Atlas could construct a body of this complexity. Yet there was this small voice in the back of my head telling me that he wasn't one of them.

Silence pass as Qrow looks around the room, waiting to take back his flask from my pocket quietly.

"I have an idea.", he replies, tapping at his wrist computer.

**Alexander POV**

A loading 3D hologram appears in front of Qrow and Summer, who both are sitting down. Qrow failed again to take his flask whereas I quickly snatched it and start drinking it down like it was water. Finishing the last drop of that hard tasting drink the hologram finally loads and shows a specific part of my plan, of course utilizing the virus, which almost fried a few mods I installed. Of course of couldn't let it fry my Taste Bud mod!

"Alright, the files that I found from the Resistance shows that your intel in mostly correct, Summer. Keyword _almost, _your dust swarms are in the prototyping stage. If I can install the virus without getting detected, I can then find a signal that interrupts the still new processing chip developed by SDC and even control them. Reports from the company express the fact that these swarms are having problems swarming together, thus slowing down their collective targeting."

"But how are you going to get inside?" Qrow demanded, obviously not convinced.

_Perfect_

"Does this satisfy your answer?" I activate my hologram disguise; my camouflage uniform changes into a t-shirt and khaki shorts, tennis shoes replace my boots, and cybernetic metal becomes skin. I feel almost normal, rather than having to keep showing my prominent cybernetic body, I could instead pretend at least that I was a healthy, average person. Usually, I engage my camouflage for recon missions or when undercover, occasionally I use it when trying to regain the sense of being human.

Both Summer and Qrow jaws hit the floor as they see me in regular clothing.

"So the next part of the plan-", "Whoa whoa whoa, can you explain just how the hell you did that? I mean, you just made yourself not look a robot!" Qrow exclaims as he looks with genuine amazement, pointing a finger. His face holds a drunken smile and his body language indicates that he's about to pass out, yet still sober enough to speak...kinda.

Sparing him a look I continued, "-Anyways, the next part of the plan is me getting inside one of their towers and plugging the virus into their network. Now, if I'm going to be honest, plugging it in a computer will not work."

"Why?"

"Most networks use a protection system to detect and stop intrusions. But if I can wirelessly send out an ad, and people click on it, then the virus can be sent in silently. And-"

Summer chirps in again, "Ads won't work, we tried that last time."

"Let me finish, please.", getting annoyed with Summer's constant interrupting. She stops and motions me to go on, saying a quick sorry.

"The ad will be actually a deal sent by this 'SDC' company, a very enticing deal...If you know what I mean."

Summer looks at me with complete certainty but doesn't press on with more of her endless questions. Qrow meanwhile is asleep on the chair, haphazardly as it begins to lean a bit too far back. She appears as if she was deciding to take the deal or not, obviously considering the possibility of-

"Okay, but if you're going to do this, then you're going need to meet with someone."

Qrow falls out of his chair.

* * *

**A/N: Hey y'all, its been a while since I worked on this chapter. Schools been a fucking load on me and so has other things, of course, this doesn't mean I abandoned this story. Now some further stuff I like to say; every time there's a holiday I'll write a micro chapter based on Alexander's experience, usually these stories are going to be planned as small poems or short stories, but it'll vary on how big they actually will be.**

**Short road map idea (subjected to change):**

_Arc I: The Arrival_

_Arc II: Beacon_

**Last thing: here's a hint.**

**AGNT**

**See ya.**


	6. Halloween 2019

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Rooster Teeth does. **

_**Warning: graphic description.**_

* * *

_Darkness grows._

_I am...horrified._

_My vision gets blurry. _

_"Where...where am I?", my mind screams as I try to get up._

_My legs aren't even attached to my body._

_Even my arms seem to be gone, both of them replaced by charred stumps of blackened flesh._

_Red...no...what?_

_"Please!" I cry, wriggling away from the monster in front of me; metal claws of razor-sharp titanium walk methodically closer and the being made of crude metal, covered in slick, fresh blood from my kin._

_My siblings have been killed horrifically; one beheaded, another with their stomach ripped out of their mouth, the other with her ribs stabbed in her breasts and in both ears, one was still alive, tied above a collapsed fireplace with the flames consuming them, body cooked and a hole where the heart once was. Their mouth couldn't move because of a meat hook stab inside, holding the suffering soon to be corpse. _

_I sob at the sight and at my inability to run, my mother and father were the first to die so no one will help me._

_It looked with a cold, stoic face as it followed its programming to the letter._

_A gunshot rang out._

* * *

Gasping I jump awake, my heart sending cold sharp spikes. If there was only one thing I feared...

"It was that."

_I am sorry for being unable to save you all._

_My father, mother, brothers, and sisters._

_Please forgive me._

* * *

**A/N: Yeah yeah this scene was graphic, but hey that's why this story is marked as rated M. Make sure there are no monsters in your closet or under the bed people, oh and make sure you can still run...ha am just joking...or am I?**

**Happy Halloween!**


	7. Section VI

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY; it's owned by Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

Trees sway, an owl _whoos _and flies away to search for its next meal. Birds of prey, well keen in the art of hunting in the darkest of nights, but remains elusive in the brightest of days and stray away from their hunters. The chair creaks as I lean back, my eyes scan the dark forest surrounding the cottage. It creeps me. I know for sure that there are creatures who would love to dig their claws into my amputated body, tearing metal and whatever organs I have left remaining.

But still, the saying goes; keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That adage used to confuse me because if your enemies are closer, wouldn't it be easier for them to find an opening? Then again, the knowledge of where they're at is somewhat reassuring.

Wood creaks as the chair bear more weight when I begin to relax, shifting it off from my feet and putting them up on the patio fence. The wind brings a cold breeze, signaling that fall is slowly turning to winter. Great trees of oak and pine lose needles and leaves, and those remaining have switched to a darkening shade of brown and red.

A door opens, prompting me to turn my head and gaze at a Summer dressed in a new wardrobe: a black long-sleeve shirt covered by a black jean jacket, a pair of infiltrator pants fitted with two sniper magazines, her pocket gives the hint of a scroll. Her sword tucked away in her scabbard strapped behind her back. To finish it off, Summer's signature white cloak pinned to her jacket. I raise an eyebrow at this irony; "_her cloak will give us away in an instant."_ I thought. "Won't your cloak give us away? It sticks out like a sore thumb.", I complain after she interrupted my solitude and got up from the comfortable chair. Stretching my arms, popping a fluid bubble in the process, she dismisses me, saying, "I've done this before."

"That's not reassuring.", "Just follow me.", she quickly responds, motioning me to follow her. I did.

Minutes pass as the glow from the cottage dims as the forest swallows us in its embrace. I could feel that a dozen red, beady eyes watching us; however, my scanners indicate that only me and Summer are here. She seems to notice the deadly silence, "My contact says he'll be here shortly."

"Who is it?" she seems to hesitate before continuing, "Sorry, I can't tell you, but I can tell you he's a faunus."

"Okay. Although I am not exactly thrilled to walk through this forest.", I can tell she was thinking similarly to me as her eyes subtly survey the area around us. I expected to be immediately attacked by the Grimm lurking in the woods. Instead, I find no red eyes or snarling beasts hiding in the darkness. Now that I think about it, the Grimm appears to be a kind of pack, some type of alpha must be leading them..._but if that was the case, where is it?_ Maybe they operate as a hive; a swarm intelligence must pervade them, explaining the ferocity of their attacks. But it brings me back to my previous question; _where's the leader?_ These hypothesizes fill my cyber brain, but I put them aside, for now, to focus on a more curious question.

"What is a faunus by the way?" I ask, "I mean, I saw the man and his faunus friend after the attack, but I still have a couple of questions."

She signs, "Alright, what do you want to know?"

Perking up at this opportunity to learn about this new race, I continue, "Starting with their history would be nice." I start recording as Summer starts.

"The faunus are a race that looks like us but are...different. Some have tails, others have ears, heck I've seen some with regenerative abilities. I'll swear that on my huntress license any day. Besides this faunus have other traits such as smell, hearing, claws or preferred food, like tuna or banana's.", she pauses to move some foliage covering a trail.

"What about their history, where did the faunus come from?" I ask, intrigued.

She shakes her head, "No one knows. The legend goes that faunus were around for as long as humans... but like most things humanity doesn't understand, we hunted them and kept them out. Our ancestors saw them nothing more than animals."

"But why is Atlas hunting them now?"

"Ever since General Ironwood usurped the council and declared the 'Atlas Imperium', she says with air quotations with obvious sarcasm, "he's been putting them in camps. Mistral helped him, at gunpoint, and shipped entire faunus communities to ghettos.". _"Same as the jews." _I thought as Summer continued, "So far, the underground railroad has helped thousands escape, but now...now the routes are constantly patrolled as you saw earlier today."

"I've seen bigger.", a chuckle comes out of her, "So if its that risky- and since you both have a kid- why did you decide to help?"

Summer stops, stamping on her heel to look at me with a look, "No one, and I mean _no one, _has to go through that. I've seen them shot like animals, beaten in the streets of Vale with police not giving a damn. As to why I do this, nobody else is lifting a finger."

Raising my hands up, "Hey hey I get it.", I say with complete honesty. I agree with her; no one should have to suffer like this. If I were in their shoes, I'd take the bullet to the heat- bet the faunus don't even get that luxury.

"You know, you're pretty knowledgable about this stuff.", she changes her look and shows me a hint of pride, "Someone had to help Qrow and Tai in history.", then turns around continuing on the dense trail.

_"The asshole?" _I think as she mentions his name.

"Qrow...I don't think he likes me very much."

"He's just overprotective. Do you think this was the first time Atlas attacked us? We always find either an Atlesian official knocking on our door or a patrol every week, more or less." she says before stopping. She glances at her scroll with the time set at _10:18 A.N_. The moon is set high in the sky, its shattered side pointing west, shining white light obstructed by the treetops, giving off a dim glow.

However, it is too dark to see much, and I bet Summer is thinking the same thing. I call out, "H.U.D.A.C.C activate night vision."

_"Activating night vision in tier 4 light level environment.", _the forest becomes brighter than before as H.U.D.A.C increases the rhodopsin in both eyes. Summer looks at me, confused, baffled by the fact that I called out to someone that she can't see. Her eyes squint as she notices my eyes, "Your eyes.", she asks as her head fills with curiosity.

"H.U.D.A.C.C is my computer system, its an acronym for Heads Up Display and Advance Cognitive Computer.", I smirk, "A big word for a very advanced computer, he pretty much controls most functions in my body, including combat abilities such as night vision."

I look at her gleeful, almost childish face as she bombards me with question after question. "What else do you have? Can you run fast? What about climbing huge mountains? Teleportation? Superstrength?". I stare at her, blankly, _"How does she know all these things? Unnatural speed I understand, but teleportation?". _A question dawns on me, one that I start to realize only now.

_"How does she know English? If this is truly an alien planet, wouldn't she be speaking in a different language? Now that I think about it, there should be nothing similar between them and us?!"_, before my thoughts could continue, Summer's rambling comes back to my ears.

"Coffee holder? How about an awesome laser cannon? Oh oh wait: what about-"

"Oh for Ohm sake, if the Grimm weren't attracted to your little skirmish today, I say your buddy's annoyance would.", H.U.D.A.C chirps in as well, _"Warning, two unknown entities approaching, maintain vigilance."_

The brunette immediately stops and looks at the trees as she catches a red-haired man with a white skull mask covering his face. The moon's light and night vision further show his saber attached to his belt, his right hand resting on it, along with a scroll reading, _10:20 A.N. _in his left hand. To his left on a nearby branch is a girl who is crouching behind a thick branch, I would have missed her if my radar wasn't up and if my night vision didn't activate transparent background mode. Her tail whipped behind her and cat ears covered by a large bow.

The man then does a Marvel-style jump to the ground, however, I was unimpressed at his showiness merely turning to Summer asking, "Is this the guy?" I say in an annoyed tone after listening to her rambling. She then laughs, "Yep, it's him. He tries to impress people to the Fang, and I guess he used that landing to try to get your attention."

_"Of course; more bark than bite."_

* * *

A little bit after this... _unexpected..._ meeting with Summer's contacts, all four of us were surrounded by more Resistance and White Fang grunts. A few took to the trees as lookouts, while others established a perimeter around us. A fire was made in a short time after a faunus struck a red crystal with a flint giving us some light. The faunus man began first, "Sorry for the attack today, my people weren't aware that Atlas discovered the route."

"Don't worry about it, especially after Alex showed up.", Summer says, gesturing to me. Mentally I curse at her because even if he was a friend to her, I don't know one thing about him except that he's a faunus.

He turns his attention from the huntress to me, "So, you're the guy that saved Summer and Qrow, including little Red.", he extends his hand, "My name is Adam Taurus, leader of the Vale Branch of the White Fang, glad to find someone of your talent."

"It was the least I could do after Summer rescued me from a pack of Grimm; besides, they're civilians." I respond and shake his outstretched hand. Its course and callous, at least professional.

Summer behind me exclaims, "Civilians! We were fighting! How could you call us-".

"Sorry," I interrupt as I turn to face her, "Its a force of habit." Before looking back at Adam, I caught a glimpse of Summer doing a caricature of me, a grunt chuckled at the display.

"Anyways, as I said, it's nice to meet you Adam, Summer was being too vague when I asked."

"You know," he exhales, "You're the first Atlesian I've met that gives a damn about her, let alone the faunus."

Astonished with what he said, I try to ask, "Do I look like an Atlesian?", but he cut me off, "Your right arm is cybernetic, and Atlas is the only nation that can produce such tech. So what are you? A traitor or...a spy? Was that attack on Summer orchestrated by you, or did the higher-ups sent you here on purpose?" his hand rests on the sword hilt.

"You assume am from Atlas because of my cybernetic body!? I was lost in those woods over there!", pointing to the genocide spot," I barely got out of there, the Grimm came out of nowhere and nearly killed me, then when Summer and Qrow hoisted my ass to their cottage, I saw a faunus deer man and his buddy being shot at by those drones. I fought tooth and nail to push them back, risking my life for these strangers and this is what I receive as gratitude!", my anger reaches a fever pitch. Still, I manage to stop myself as some of the guards point their guns at me, probably when Adam mentioned me being an Atlesian spy.

Collecting myself, I continue, "I am not an Atlesian, never even stepped foot on that continent. So believe when I say am on your side."

The faunus looks at me with thought, then pulls out his sword and thrusts it at my face stopping a mere inch away. Immediately I whip out my pistol, as I do that the faunus around us aim at me, even Summer steps back. She observes both of us, unknowing who to trust.

What he does next surprises me.

Putting the sword on my shoulder, he says, "You've proven your loyalty to me, the White Fang and the Resistance. From here on out, you are part of the family, a family that won't rest till the faunus are free."

Smirking and relieved at this sudden arrangement, "I thank you for accepting me into this united front, now I like to ask who is this?", returning my gaze at the quiet cat faunus.

The raven-haired girl replies, "My names Blake, Blake Belladonna, right-hand woman of Adam. If it wasn't for your rambling I would've had to shoot to pieces. Good thing I didn't", she finishes with a smile. Her cat ears expose themselves, popping up from the cover of her black-hair. _"I knew it, thought H.U.D.A.C was playing tricks on me. Then again I did see a man with antlers just a few days ago." _

Shaking her hand, I thank her for her introduction and for not killing me. Summer laughs nervously behind me, grateful for a bloodbath just narrowly avoided.

Returning to Adam, I then reply, "Alright then, I have an idea where to start."

He looks at me with all ears, allowing me to continue, "Like to know how to destroy a CCT tower without collapsing the world in the process?"

Stunned, albeit momentarily, the White Fang leader then smiles.

* * *

**Earth, 11/21/2396**

_"Riots over the Caleigh Food Pantry has sparked numerous anti-U.N movements and further empowers the MRG. Martian vessels have begun to broadcast pro-succession propaganda to various media networks catching the United Nations Security Agency utterly off-guard. The terrorist attack has caused an economic collapse in various sectors including significant unemployment in the already poverty-stricken slums in Brazil, America, and Greenland zones. Federalists have begun to cover over the failure of-"_

_"All members of the Science Expedition team have been declared M.I.A in the unclassified 'Teleportation' fort after locals witness weird spheres of energy and the sudden evaporation of snow along the Yakutsk river, this has caused large floods, destroying many slums outside river levees. Additionally, only one Ranger- Sergeant Ghir Willit- and one surveillance drone have come back. The sergeant, suffering from blood loss, shock, and grievous wounds, rants incoherently about 'Black Beasts who killed his men' and 'Demons'. He is currently undergoing mental therapy at a nearby mental asylum, however, the doctors report noticeable PTSD and near-insanity."_

* * *

**A/N: Still not dead motherf***kers, school just been a pain in my behind. Of course, I'll be writing something for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, although- and I hate to say it- those chapters will have to be a little rushed to fulfill those dates. By the way, these stories are happening in real-time- kind of. **

**See ya'll later.**


	8. Section VII

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, it's owned by Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

**Blakes POV**

"-the CCT tower main computer module is located in the top-left wing of the structure, we've sent informants in, and few have come back out. We believe that Atlas has tightened security to secure this area from infiltration or assaults. We've lost a lot of good men."

"I've analyzed these rooms, and the conclusion isn't pretty: it seems that Atlas placed DNA scanners to detect Fang and Resistance operatives, limiting your ability to move freely."

Adam looks at him blankly, "You've only seen these plans for an hour, how the hell did you gather that?"

"Because," he crosses his arms, "it's obvious. Every time someone walks in, I can see just a small laser beam for a split second, meaning that there is a scanner of some kind." He pulls up footage -in hologram form- of this happening, modifying it with 'UV Detection' text displayed in the top-right corner. For someone who claims he isn't from Atlas, I can tell that he knows their equipment and know its function. When he mentioned the laser, I became more suspicious of him. My eyes train to Summer, who was also paying attention to the footage.

She catches me looking at her and gives a small smile. I can see the hope in her silver eyes, a trait that hasn't dimmed even as Atlas grows stronger. We were hesitant to entangle her in all of this after she had Ruby. Her only response to us was, "It's so Ruby doesn't have to live in this damn world.", her words of courage made me realize why she keeps fighting. I can't blame her, but my will to keep persisting has started to strain after Atlas took Menagerie, killing my parents.

I was devastated.

It was because of Adam that I kept going; his love and compassion keeping me from the noose, still I can't see why he would include _him_

_"Still, we made him part of our network almost immediately- without considering his background or motives. For all, we know Alex could be a spy or bounty hunter!" _before I could further delve into these thoughts, _his _voice came back.

"Blake.", I look at him, breaking out of my deep thought, he notices my attention, "This operation is contingent on one thing; can I trust you to complete it?"

I look at Adam, and he catches my eye, with confidence in his composture, he nods in affirmatively.

* * *

**Narrator POV**

* * *

The city of Vage was one of majestic properties: this fifth city founded by Valean settlers after its establishment of Vale. Known for its wide boulevards, lush forests surrounding the hills with pristine, clear rivers that are devoid of pollution. The outskirts of Vage were farms and small suburbs fortified by ancient stone walls amplified with modern-day defenses. Many sought to live in Vage as most often strolled about with nothing to do. Its industry geared towards machinery, trade, clerical tasks, and the bar industry, none were open in the as fit with tradition.

Night, however, was more interesting: clubs and bars were open in many districts, tired workers often taking an hour or two to relax with a cocktail in hand or catching up with friends or getting a little intimate with lovers. Winter, however, brought more than just distractions or trinkets to the common man...none of them good.

Martial law, courtesy of the Atlas Imperium, of course, saw curfews occurring soon after work was completed, although soldiers and officers were generously given off time by their military to help _"keep the peace"_. These people claimed to maintain order at night and kept stability, although, the militarization of its CCT tower, along with the construction of Camp Impeccable, to display power and authority, brought faunus slavery to Vage. Former Valean civilians once protested against the curfew and oppression, only to be gunned down by Atlesian androids.

As of now, it was only 900 B.N. The CCT tower was surrounded by barracks and military offices coordinating the Atlesian war effort, guards stood outside its gates, erect sharply with rifles in hand and visors down to display professionalism over the people in the area. Badges adorned their chest plate gleaming in the morning rays after their owners endured a frosty night of cold as they maintain vigilance. On their left shoulder is a brassard with the words, _Atlas Endures for All, _in a circle around the word MP.

Only one dares to walk forward the compound.

* * *

**Alexander POV**

* * *

Snow crunches under my boots, yet to be melted from the flagstone road. Each breath I take is visible as I breathe it back out, the freezing winter air chills my cybernetic body as my remaining nerves sense the cold in winter Vage. I stare at the impressive tower in front of me. _"Summer said that you couldn't miss the tower. Unless the word tower is different here, this is it.", _the massive structure entends at least a couple meters in the sky, white marble makes up the material of the tower along with a lighthouse top with a tall radio mast extending into the heavens above.

All of that beauty is disturbed, however.

Surrounding the tower is a curtain wall with several smaller towers, I can clearly see guards stationed in them. Barbwire occupies the top of the wall, including the base as well. A checkpoint is to my left to allow vehicles in, while simultaneously defend against unwanted visitors.

As I continue walking towards the gate I spot a signpost giving directions to either the main settlement areas or toward military zones- as evident by the more clean and pristine material used for them-, additionally, an arrow is labeled "**Bunny Faunus Club-1.1 miles east" **and my nanoblood begins to boil as a subtle mask of anger occupies my face. Before I could further speculate at the sign a voice called out.

"Halt civilian!", a man dressed in a white and blue uniform with decorations designating him as an MP lifts his arm up, opening his hand in a flat palm, "State your business here!"

Instead of complying, I engage my cloaking device. Both of the guards look at each other confused, only for a couple of seconds before they both lose the ability to breathe. Walking past their dying bodies, I disable my cloak and sheath my knives, both dripping with blood, wiping them with a handkerchief to get rid of any evidence. "_No time to bury the bodies, gotta do this quick."_

_Beep...Silver Knight come in, Feral Squad is approaching the generator, too many guards to sneak in. We're going to need to adjust the plan."_

Looking at the now deceased MP I get an idea., _"I got one idea. Standby, Silver Knight out."_, with that I pull aside the guard and strip him of his uniform. It's a bit of a tight fit but good enough, bet I can tear it apart with no effort.

I also grab the guard's ID card and equipment to blend it, pulling the field cap over my eyes to hide my face from passerby's. Strolling past the hidden bodies underneath the snow, ignoring hellos from on-duty soldiers and civilians I arrived at my intended target: the rotating doors of the Vage cross-continental transmit tower. Feeling a tiny smirk sneak on my lips, entering through the rotating glass doors, then giving a shakey salute to an Atlesian officer. He responded lazily before continuing his conversation with his friend- am assuming.

That didn't matter as I studied the lobby directory.

A few minutes pass until finding a route to my next destination. When walking through the next hall door, I was astonished by the sheer scope of it.

The entire structure, amazing as it was from a distance, is remarkable when inside. While the reception lounge has polished granite floors with dark gray concrete walls, the much larger military wing of the tower occupies the courtyard that was there before Atlas took over. Now it's covered in steel plating covering the previously marble and glass wall for defensive reasons. The floor is still made of smooth granite, although now slightly worn because of the traffic here: squads of patrol drones survey the area, smaller drones glide across the open space above me, squads of Atlesian soldiers rest here awaiting their next mission.

"You there!', a voice calls from behind. Walking toward me is a large looking officer. Trailing him are two Atlesians wearing what appears to be body armor, their faces obscured by helmets fitted with facemasks. His jacket is loose, probably off duty from the looks of it. I stopped walking and turned around to face the group, giving them the same shaky salute I gave an officer earlier.

"Name and rank?", he asks, "Private Calousy, sir.". Without a look of seriousness, he nods, "Report to Section E2."

"Yes sir.", turning to leave, I caught out of the corner of my eye a faunus girl with a collar around her neck. Wearing nothing but a worn bra and underwear and being forced to crawl on all fours. She notices me before looking away in shame. Her owner must have seen her do this.

"Knock it off!", the officer barks as he kicks her in the abdomen. With great hesitation, I reluctantly walk away from her as the man pulls out a whip and begins to lash at her exposed body. This isn't the first time I've seen _this _kind of suffering; when I was first deployed in the Middle East, there was this sex trafficker selling young girls to hidden brothels in Karachi. Ten guys plus myself broke into the den in the middle of the night. We almost had him, but not before he took them with him...a bomb was placed in the basement where he locked them up.

I saw the bodies, some of them in their late teens, others just pre-teens. I vowed to never, never let that happen again.

But if I saved this girl right now, I expose myself and Feral squad, this entire mission would be over before it even began. So, I walk to section E2, sparing the girl one more glance. Heart heavy I carry on.

Taking a right instead of left, I make my way towards the generator room as my map instructed. _"Thirty-five feet, take the next left and, after two doors, head left downstairs," _H.U.D.A.C.C informs me, showing yellow lines on the right of my HUD. Before heading into the hallway, a group of soldiers ran to my intended destination, rifles in hand and radios chirping. Instinctively I hid in the bathroom conveniently just right there. The footsteps fade away.

_"Beep...Feral Squad. You got tangos coming your way, come in."_

No response.

I try again, _"Feral Squad. You have tangos coming your way. Respond dammit."_

Still no response._ "Shit"_, I think before pulling out both my pistols and rushing out of the door. Running towards the squad I opened fire. One of their guys slumps to the ground dead, his buddies change direction and start shooting my way. Gunshots echoed in the concrete hall: _"No doubt more are going to come.", _as I close the distance. Quickly hoisting one of the pistols, I whip out my broadsword and throw it, impaling one guy. Bullets hit me but bounce off my shield not evening coming close to my armor.

Pulling the sword out of his body I chop, slice and dice the other guards, quickly removing their heads in order to silence their dying shouts. Soon dust rounds are replaced by gauss shots and my sword against foreign flesh, which is then replaced by silence. Finishing my last kill, I look at the staircase leading down to the basement. Instead of taxing myself with running I jump down.

Just before my feet hit the ground, my 3D Environment gear kicks high-pressure gas out, gently hovering me a few inches above the ground. Landing I rush towards the door, I pull out my keycard and slide it in the card reader.

**DENIED, **"_Fuck this."_, I thought before shooting the reader with my pistol. To my surprise the door opens, revealing the generator room along with a second door. Quickly walking towards it, I turn the knob. I slowly open the door and stick my head in.

* * *

**Blake POV**

* * *

Another guard hits the floor, the rest of Feral Squad clean up their targets as per orders. Adam instructed us to disable the generator in the lower levels, unfortunately, we underestimated the number of guards patrolling this place. Taking out these guys were a risk, nearly exposing us. But they're dead- bleeding out on the floor-, allowing us to advance towards the generator room

That was until the door opened.

* * *

**Alexander POV**

* * *

A bullet whizzed past my head, instead, it hit the wall behind me. "Shit!" I cried out, readying my pistol. Just as I take aim, a familiar faunus, black of hair with black cat ears says, "Don't shoot. Don't shoot." Hearing this voice I say, "Motherfuckers! Why did y'all try to shoot me?"

"Thought you were the enemy." Blake shrugs nonchalantly.

I sigh, muttering under my breath, "Rookies."

"You say something?"

"Nothing," I wave off, "We need to continue towards the tower. They probably already sent patrols after our engagements.", it took me a few seconds to realize what I said. She looks at me, "You were the one who was shooting?" in a clearly pissed out tone.

"Look, I know this isn't the best situation, but we have to keep going."

"What about the Atlesian defenses?"

In truth, I forgot about them. I begin to pace back and forth, hand on my chin in a thinking pose. Blake notices this and waits, hand on her hip, waiting for a response. Obviously a quick one if I may add.

_"H.U.D.A.C.C", _the AI flashes up in attention, awaiting my command. "_Give me a layout of the CCT tower and potential enemy reinforcements." _He quickly does this as he displays a 3D map in my HUD and the probability of troop movements in specific areas. I study it. And that is when I notice it, an elevator shaft that goes from the basement to the top. If only there was a way to...oh wait. Looking at the generator, I command Blake, "Shoot the generator."

Perplexed she does so after a pause, pulling out her gun and shooting at it. "That's an interesting gun by the way", I compliment her. She rolls her eyes, probably thinking that I was flirting with her, even though I definitely wasn't. As I say this the lights flicker before encasing us in darkness.

I activate my night-vision and knowing that faunus have natural night-vision, guide them to the elevator. The cat faunus looks at me, "What now?"

"Now.", I open the elevator door before opening the emergency exit, giving me a clear view of the distance between the basement and the control room. Jumping back down I tell the rest of Feral squad, "Now we finish this fight. The enemy won't bring the fight us, instead, we'll bring the fight to the enemy. Follow me." And with that, I hop back up and begin climbing.

Below me, I hear, "Let's go brothers!" with similar cheers as the shaft begins to rattles with climbing and frantic jumping as they try to keep up with me. Luckily, my thrusters allow accelerating ahead of them much faster.

Minutes of climbing later we reach the top.

* * *

Reaching the top I land with a grunt, disengaging the thrusters, hearing them whirl and click back under my cybernetic skin. I curse at the metal as it prevents me from stretching completely- it's going to take a while for Feral squad to make it topside. Deciding to generous I move over to the computer module, "Engage hacking." I command to H.U.D.A.C.C.

_"Yes, sir." _and begins to move the elevator shaft slowly to allow the faunus a chance to get a chance to stand, get a reprieve and what not. Realizing that it'll still take some time for them to arrive, I move over to what seems to be a very important computer, judging by the large towers connected to it. Reaching out of my pocket, I grab the flash drive and insert it in its port before connecting directly in the mainframe itself.

"Time to work your magic H.U.D.A.C.C", I say. However, I don't get a "Yes, sir", instead, a beep followed by a hollow bar. A percentage slowly ticks up to show progress as the virus takes it time to find the ports and points to enter and any potential files that'll satisfy my _own _interest. As I dwell on this thought, H.U.D.A.C.C says, "Sir, permission to speak?"

"Sure." I lean back on the computer frame to catch my breath.

"Do you really wish to return to Earth, sir? The UN doesn't seem to really care if you come back alive.". "Yeah-" I start, "but, I have my own reasons H.U.D.A.C.C.", the bar reads 11%. "Sir, its been two centuries-"

"It still feels like yesterday." I cut him off, hoping to end this conversion. He's referring to my family; how they were butchered worse than cattle and what the US did to me when they found me in the ash of my home. When they lifted the hot timbers off my body, they only found a torso and head still attached that barely functioned. I woke up again in a water tank, connected by mask to an oxygen tank.

And the rest is history; conscripted as a military experiment, killed for the first time against my will, among other horrors. And yet, this time, on Remnant I feel that my actions are my choice now. But I can't let go of my past.

"I made a vow H.U.D.A.C.C. I am not going to break it anytime soon."

"What are you talking about?" an all too familiar voice asked. A normal person would have said different excuses, most likely failing, but I don't. I slowly look at her, "Talking to someone." before glancing at the percentage bar.

_48%_

Blake seems to look around for this someone, curiosity in her eyes, like a cat hunting for a rat. She looks back at me, "I don't see anyone."

"Where's the rest of Feral squad?"

"Still climbing the elevator."

Nodding I ignore her next question, "Who are you talking to again?"

"Doesn't matter.", cooly strolling over to the large window to gaze into the snow-covered cityscape and countryside, a dozen homes or so glowing orange light through the windows as I catch Atlesian propaganda plastered around the city. "_Reminds me of Korea." _I think to myself. The bar reads 55%.

"Alarms are disabled." I inform her, the cat faunus walking towards the window next to me as she gives a quiet nod.

Blake calmly stands next to me, crossing her arms. I can sense a small twig of anger as the cat faunus studies the city, "This place used to be good.", she says out of the blue, eyes still looking out. I don't say anything, being bored by this small talk I once had back on Earth. Plus I didn't really see me and Blake being anything but acquaintances, not to mention being actual friends.

"Oh." I dryly respond.

The bar reads 78% before jumping down to 68%.

"City has gone to shit." I say blankly, looking through the frosted windows as the outskirts of Vage come into view, the twisted, burnt-out remains of buildings still smoking into the pale winter sky. The snow gently falls on the ruins as they mix with gray ash or cover displaced mounds far out in the white plains. The scene would have been beautiful if weren't for the scars of what I can only assume was a battle.

"I've heard when Atlas invaded Vage, but now that I see it..." she trails off, I nod. "You get numb to it after a while, although it never goes away." Sensing that a conversation is inevitably coming I lean once again back on the computer mainframe. Blake copies my action and leans on the frame as well, putting an appropriate amount of distance between us. _"Copy cat." _I smile at that small joke I make before suppressing it.

Seconds pass as I wait if she has anything to say.

Realizing she doesn't I ask, "Summer and Qrow told me last night that Atlas began to hunt down the faunus and put them in these 'camps'. Why are they doing this?". Blake doesn't look at me as she says, "Aren't you from Atlas?" in an irritated tone. Similar to everyone else when they met me earlier. I quickly summarize this as a byproduct of my appearance without the 3D camouflage. When walking around the lobby I noticed a few had mechanical arms of a white material fitted with a steel joint for regular movement, but they didn't look any similar to my cybernetics in comparison.

"No." I reply, "Am from...Vacuo." avoiding her gaze. An obvious lie I know, but one that could throw her off. Explaining to Blake that am from an entirely different planet will definitely cause her to seriously question me and right now, while not looking for friends, I am looking for allies on this confusing planet. She's potentially someone I could trust.

Before she can ask further there was a thud. We both swiftly turn and prepare for a fight, only to be greeted by a man in black wearing a white face mask and red in hair, wielding a sword sheathed on his left thigh.

"Are the computers infected?" Adam asks, the rest of Feral squad finally catches up with most resting their hands on their knees in exhaustion. After all, the climb before the elevator helped them, without some kind of propulsion would have been tiring.

My HUD reads _80%._

_"_Almost," I tell him. He frowns, "What? Your Altesian tech slowing it down?" he speaks with disappointment and anger.

"I told you like I did before: Am not Atlesian." I say firmly, irritation laced in my words, "Am from Vacuo."

_Crash_

The room is flooded with a swirling cloud of fire, burning several and forcing the rest of us to seek cover. H.U.D.A.C.C calculated the situation, sending me various pieces of information and recommended course of action. The shield repels the storm, allowing me to open fire with my rifle, however, it has little effect as the storm changes color from a bright red and orange to a whitening yellow followed by an arc of lightning.

It strikes me. My HUD is flooded with the word danger as my cybernetic body twitches and spasms cause sharp pains. I start feeling clammy with me flipping back and forth between cold and hot and hot and cold. It begins to become harder to breathe as H.U.D.A.C.C screams, _"Sy-sy-t-e-m Eme-gg-gge-cy-! El-el-l-l-t-r-ic-!" _stopping as soon as it began.

With little strength, I suddenly felt a cylinder object strapped to me. Grasping it, I pull the pin off of it and throw the EMP at the cloud as they begin to close upon a wounded Adam and a frightened Blake who vainly fires in the reforming mass of tiny robots.

_100%_

"B-lake!" I say through my radio. She looks at me with terror-filled eyes, "D-ooo-ne!" I scream as the EMP goes off.

A flash of blue electricity fills the room, blinding everyone and causes the swarm to cease immediately, they begin to fall to the ground like the snow outside. Grunts who took cover look confused at the disintegrating swarming mass.

My vision becomes blurry as my HUD became static. I see Adam running to me with Blake closely following him.

Dark.


	9. Section VIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Rooster Teeth own it.**

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**A/N: For those who cared about this story...am back bitches! (Thumbs up)**

Dark.

Shadow surrounds me.

Lying on the empty ground, I fell heavy. Head is aching, I groan in audible pain. Raising my hand is absolute agony as it feels like pins and needles push and constantly prod as I fall to the void. I begin to fall, and something pulls me farther from the dim darkness in front of me as I twist and turn, panicking as I lose sensation in my body, like something began to rip and tear at my nerves.

Pounding squeezes my head. It feels as if a vice was slowly cracking my skull. I try to move, but...

"My arms...where are they?" I tell myself, but it seems the deep, dark, empty void responds. I see a gaping jaw inch towards me, red eyes piercing with unknowable malice, as they begin to glow brighter. Dark red morphs into bright red as the beast closes its jaws. I try to move and move out of the way, but it seems that it does nothing. It does worst than nothing as my muscles fade into dust as all that remains are ragged stumps of flesh. I shouted for help, only to find that my voice was shrill and quiet.

The jaws begin to close as the beast passes through me.

And I return to darkness.

_"What the?" _

As the darkness begins to surround me, I saw a tiny, horribly dimmed light become brighter and brighter. Standing out across the pitch darkness is a singular light that casts its radiance on me.

My body starts to heat up. Slowly it becomes hotter and hotter. The rays shine into a deafening beam as the heat flickers.

Fire spreads as the energy vaporizes me.

* * *

Jointing awake, I find myself back at the Branwen's residence. Instead of resting on the comfortable, soft chair like before, I lay on a table. I look around me, Qrow reading a book on the chair, doesn't seem to know of my awaken presence. My weapons sit next to me, and my left is a table of medical equipment, their instruments covered in blue-ish blood. Lifting the blanket on top of me, I find bandages rolled around my torso, the gash large as the fabric wraps around my upper torso.

"Your up.", Qrow says, not lifting his eyes away from his book. The title reads, _A Raven's Luck, _the author's name to small to0 see clearly. Grunting, I reply, "Hoped I died?"

"Eh." flipping the page to the next, "Don't know what'll people think about a lunatic staying at my house."

I check my rifle, pulling out the computer, I clicked, and it turns out that the gun had only 70% of material left, the battery almost drained. "Who knows," that seems to grab Qrow's attention as he looks at me over his book, "Maybe I'll die eventually."

Bookmarking his page, saying, "Can you do it quietly then?"

"Why the hell do you hate me so much?" I demand angrily, walking towards him. He gets up as we standoff a mere foot from each other.

"I don't like you. You might not be an Atlesian, but gods dammit do you look like one. Even if you are a Vacuan or a Mistralian, or even a Valien, you're just one of them. I know people like you. The type who'd pretend to fight for something greater than themselves, in the end, they run away because they don't want to be on the losing side."

I start to tremble in anger; knuckles fisted as their raw energy remains barely contained. I feel myself getting worked up. Qrow doesn't understand the shit that I went through: my family slaughtered like sheep, my home buried underneath god knows what, hell my fucking body, the one thing that should have been mine, is gone. I should have died long ago, but no, the U.S-now U.N- fucking government decides that I should live for as long they tell me. Doing dirty missions for people that are far worse than those I've killed.

Here's a chance for me to redeem myself and Qrow thinks I'm doing this to be a hero.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to be a hero is long gone. My actions can be seen as corrupt or evil despite the abject rejection of such orders that lead to said actions.

"People like me?"

He bitterly chuckles, "Especially you.", jabbing a finger at my chest.

I grit my teeth, "What does that make you?"

Qrow stands there, confused, "I went through hell for over two centuries, seeing the worst in people. The things I did to press on another day, the abuse and suffering they put me in to ensure that I wasn't 'past my expiration date.' _You_ have a family, what the fuck do _I_ have?

"I have nothing, Qrow! Not even bare skin or bones except my lungs, brain, hearts, and dick, because them dumbfuck scientists, "somehow" couldn't find a way to replace all that useless shit. I was that close to becoming a fucking robot. Not even my brain is entirely left!"

"What's going on here?"

Up top, the stairs stand Summer, eyes solemn and posture tired, yet staring down me and Qrow for what seems to be the second time today. She changes into pajamas, seemingly waiting for Qrow to come upstairs for some time. Qrow and I exchange a bitter, angry glance before the gray-haired huntsman tells her, "Sorry Sum, me and Mr. Robot here were talking a little loud."

"For lack of a better term," I whisper under my breath as I walk away from the two.

* * *

**Qrow POV**

* * *

The bed sways slightly as both of us lay on the shared mattress, the weight of the room sinking in after Alex and I had our scuffle. Placing an around Summer, I sigh out in exhaustion. She shifts in response, "Why are you and Alex fighting?"

"The Atlesian? The enemy?"

"He doesn't look Atlesian."

"Summer, his entire body is cybernetic, it's safe to assume he is Atlesian, maybe even an agent." she places her head on my chest. Ruffled red streaks spray out with a tired face looking at me. She softly replies, "We know other people, other contacts that have limbs replaced with whole metal. If we give him a chance, he'll prove himself."

"I'm just concerned, Summer. What if...what if he gets controlled by Atlas and attacks you or Ruby?"

She places a finger on my lips, rolling on top of me, hips straddling and inches close to me, "He won't. I know it's been a long time..."

We spring into action: lips crash furiously, I start to unbutton Summer's shirt. Luckily the door is locked, Ruby is fasted asleep, and no one is expected to barge in on us. If Alex had any brains, he'd want to sleep outside instead as things are about to get a little noisy.

"Qrow, Summer! Get up! We're under-"

An explosion shatters the window as the sound of a Bullhead roar outside.

* * *

**A/N: So hey it only took almost a year to write this short-ass chapter, maybe the next one will be quicker. Maybe. Yeah, I shouldn't have tried that overambitious goal to write this story every day, that got me so far (sarcasm detected). Anyways, have a good day.**


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